


Halo: Demons of Reach

by GrumpyBear



Series: Halo: A Tale of Monsters [1]
Category: Halo
Genre: Connor-027, Gen, Human-Covenant War, Multiple Perspectives, Original Characters - Freeform, Ravi-009, Sangheili - Freeform, Sanya-105, Spartan II's, Spartans, Story Driven
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-07-24 07:51:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7500102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumpyBear/pseuds/GrumpyBear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Spartans are regarded as the most heroic soldiers of the Human-Covenant war, and the humans themselves are considered to be the brave defenders of their race. But war is much more then heroic last stands and valiant offensives, and in war no one side is innocent and pure. Every war has its horrors, and every horror has its monster. Which are the humans? Which are the Spartans?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

** Prologue **

**Date:** April 19th, 2517  
 **Time:** 0900  
 **System:** Procyon  
 **Planet:** Arcadia  
 **Location:** Serth, Lemuria  
 **Mission:** Assess and acquire potential test subject 027

Dr. Halsey took a deep gulp from the shimmering glass of water in front of her, setting it down with a satisfied sigh as the cool liquid quenched her thirst. Arcadia was one hot tropical planet, home to many exotic resorts and many more villages, each one hidden away in the sweltering depths of Arcadia's jungles.

Serth was one such settlement, a small village, crowded in on all sides by lush green flora, so much so that hacking the invading greenery back had become key occupation within the settlement.  
Aside from intense heat and hordes of invading plants however, Serth was quite nice, beautiful even. With long winding gravel paths, shimmering blue lakes that fed into ponds and clear blue skies as far as the eye could see, Serth was everything everyone considered as the perfect retreat.  
Halsey raised her eyes from the menu in front of her, she had chosen a small café away from the main body of Serth for her meeting, and appraised the man approaching her table.  
Jacob Keyes was a fit young man in his early twenties with a short black buzz cut, that absolutely screamed military, and a strong face with handsome, yet not overly attractive features. He was wearing a white vest that shone in the brilliant morning sunlight and was darkened with sweat and cargo shorts that stopped just short of his knees.  
The lieutenant sank down into the chair next to Halsey, scooped a menu up off of the table and instantly began fanning his red face. Beads of sweat hung over his temples and eventually dried against his scalp as his makeshift fan did its work. The stench of BO threatened to overwhelm Halsey.  
She ignored it and cleared her throat, instantly gaining Keyes' attention. The man sat up straight at once, but slouched upon realizing his mistake. Technically speaking the two weren't even supposed to be on Arcadia, and what they were about to do was something that would never be admitted by ONI, the organization within the government that was funding.  
"Glad you could make it Jacob," Halsey smiled, talking informally so as not too draw any attention to themselves "Any longer and I might have thought you were leaving me out too dry. Or roast."  
"Absolutely not ma'am, I mean Catherine." The lieutenant blushed and Halsey looked away, pretending something had caught her eye.  
But when she looked back she found herself staring into Keyes' eyes. After several months of travel together, something had formed between the two of them, something that Halsey didn't want to admit.  
"Ahem," she coughed, clearing her throat and breaking the awkward silence "The subject? The test? Are they ready?"  
"Yes ma'am! Catherine." Keyes responded, he looked down, like he was disappointed then he blinked and it was gone "They were set up yesterday by the capture team, here."  
He handed her a data pad full of text, statistics and pictures. It was a profile that had been put together on Halsey's twenty seventh candidate for her Spartan II program. A program that she fervently believed would lead to the pacification of the outer colonies and bring about peace throughout the UNSC.  
A giant grinning face, with messy blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, occupied the top left corner of Halsey's data pad with the identification reading: CONNOR ARMELLO. Other details were listed below it.  
At six years old Connor stood a head taller then everyone else his age and his academic results revealed that he was far beyond his peers and even superiors in terms of educational achievement. Under a secondary box named NOTABLE SKILLS was the line: HIGHLY AGILE.  
"Highly agile?" Halsey muttered, speaking to herself yet nonetheless gaining Keyes' attention.  
"Indeed ma'am." He confirmed "Shall we initiate the test?"  
Halsey was quiet for a moment before speaking.  
"Yes." She said, pushing herself to her feet.  
Halsey and Keyes paid cash for the drinks that they had received and left the café, taking one winding path after another through the humid settlement until they reached a large clearing maybe thirty feet across and bordered on all sides by a ten meter high cliff.  
Running down the center of the cliff was a three meter wide waterfall that cascaded down into a pool of crystal blue water below. The pond extended out into the middle of the clearing and was surrounded on all sides by rocky ground, that was slick with water and dotted with large boulders.  
"The remnants of an old rock slide perhaps?" Halsey thought, looking at the two dozen or so children who were busy running about, jumping and splashing in the water.  
Halsey walked closer and saw that the children were of all different ages, ranging from six all the way up to thirteen. That would make her subject all the more easy to pick out from the group. However, it turned out that Halsey needn't have been looking for her subject at all, as he ended up being the one who found her.  
"Halt!" Cried Connor, peering down at Halsey and Keyes from atop one of the boulders "Who goes there?"  
Halsey stopped and smiled up at the shirtless child, beads of water glistening on his skin, his face set in a comically ferocious expression.  
"Oh no one special," She replied smiling up at the boy "I was actually hoping that one of you could help me?"  
Connor was instantly groundside, having stepped off of the boulder and fallen at least a meter to the ground.  
Halsey stared at him for a moment, shocked by the sudden action. Connor however, seemed to be completely oblivious of the fact that he had just fallen a meter without sustaining so much as a limp.  
"Help you with what?" he asked, a bright smile on his face "Directions? People always get lost around here."  
He laughed and Halsey felt a spear of guilt pierce her heart.  
"Such a friendly child," She thought "With such a pure heart."  
Halsey banished the troubling thoughts with ease , something which would become harder and harder for her as time went by and steeled herself to the task ahead.  
"No not directions," she laughed, returning his smile "I was actually wondering whether or not you could take a picture for me?"  
Connor stepped back from her with a cautious look on his face.  
"A picture of what?" He asked, eyeing the camera that Halsey had removed from her pocket.  
"Of Serth of course." Halsey replied, seeing Connor relax at her words "From above the canopy, my fiancée are on vacation here and we wanted something special to remember the trip by."  
Halsey gestured the Keyes and at the mention of fiancée his face went red. Well redder.  
"Do you think you could get a picture from up there?" Halsey continued, gesturing towards the top of the cliff.  
Connor followed her hand and his eyes brightened.  
"No problem!" He exclaimed, snatching the camera from Halsey "I'll be right back!"  
He scurried toward the cliff with delight in his eyes, leaping over rocks and scrambling up boulders before hurling himself at the cliff wall. He hit the wet wall and stuck there, somehow finding hand and foot holds despite being bombarded by the spray from the waterfall.  
Connor swarmed up the cliff like some kind of monkey, swinging and leaping between different parts of the cliff to find new handholds until he finally pulled himself over the lip and onto the cliff's edge.  
The six year old stood triumphant at the top of the cliff, having completed the climb in seconds, snapped a picture of the jungle clad settlement and then did a massive cannon bomb down into the pool below.  
Halsey winced; the camera hadn't been waterproof.  
"We're done here." She said, turning around as Connor splashed to shore.  
"Ma'am?" Keyes asked, hurrying after her "Are we going ahead with the operation?"  
"Yes." Halsey said, as they disappeared down the path towards Serth "Signal the capture teams. We take him tonight."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Time:** 26:00  
 **System:** Epsilon Eridani  
 **Planet:** Reach  
 **Location:** ONI Tower Base  
 **Mission:** Survive

 _Ka-Boom!_  
The sounds of battle filled Connor's ears, the screams of the dying mixing with the ratatat of gunfire and the bubbling of fired plasma rounds. A wave of heat washed over Connor as liquid plasma splashed into the corridor.  
A massive hole had been burned through the wall to Connor's left by the most recent plasma shell. A few hundred meters away the covenant had set up a group of long range Wraiths and they had spent the last few hours reducing Tower Base to a melted mess of burnt steel and blackened courtyards.  
"MOVE YOUR ASS TWENTY SEVEN!" Ravi yelled, her voice still containing a hint of her Indian ancestry.  
Connor, spurred on by his squad leader's rather unconventional encouragement, leapt to his feet and dived to the side as a second plasma shell came sailing through the hole in the wall and impacted with a BOOM! Connor didn't stick around.  
He took off at a dead sprint, accelerating to 55 kilometers an hour in under three seconds and was soon joined by his two squad mates; Ravi–009 and Sanya-105.  
The green clad Spartans pelted down the corridor, their Mjolnir class armour protecting them from shards of debris that were thrown up as the Wraiths continued their deadly bombardment.  
Connor stumbled and his shields flared as a plasma bolt struck his shoulder.  
"Shit!" Sanya swore, as his own shields flared "we've got company!"  
Connor glanced back as his shields continued to fall under an onslaught of plasma bolts. Six elites had materialized out of thin air behind them and were giving chase; their plasma rifles sending blue bolts of death whizzing towards the Spartans.  
Connor's heart leapt into his throat, the Elites had them up against the wall and they knew it. Rather then close the gap between them; the Elites were sitting a safe distance behind them, running after them at a controlled lope and firing lethal plasma towards the Spartans. Between the Elites and the Wraiths, the Spartan's chances of survival were dwindling.  
"This way!" Ravi yelled, kicking a metal door halfway off its hinges "We've got to get further into the base!"  
Ravi sprinted on ahead, delving into Castle Base's interior facility, Sanya followed her as the hail of plasma intensified and Connor brought up the rear, swandiving through the shattered doorway as plasma shells smashed through the corridor's walls and flooded its length in a sea of plasma.  
"Keep moving!" Ravi ordered, leading the way through Tower Base.  
After five minutes of travel Ravi ordered a break, leading her team across an open courtyard littered with twisted, burnt bodies and into Tower Base's mess hall.  
The interior of the mess hall was remarkably devoid of bodies. Most of the men must have ran out to secure weapons and ammo when the alarm had sounded and been cut down in the courtyard by Covenant fliers and artillery.  
Connor and his team had also been caught without their weapons when the assault had started, a rare thing for Spartans, and he shuddered to think what would have happened he been a normal soldier like Tower Base's marines.  
Six rows of four tables, each one large enough to seat ten people, ran the length of the room, separated by a wide passage that led up to the food counter up the back of the building. Plates of food, all of them stone cold, still rested upon the tables.  
"Secure the perimeter," Ravi ordered, pointing to the doors they had just come in through "and keep it quiet, we don't know if those damned Elites managed to follow us or not."  
Connor and Sanya nodded and began carrying the tables over to the mess hall's twin double doors, stacking them lengthways across the entrances. The tables wouldn't do much to stop the Covenant, but they might slow down any Elite strike teams that came after the Spartans.  
As her teammates were doing this, Ravi had hopped the food counter and gathered up a dozen or so MREs, or Meals Ready to Eat. She walked over to one of the few remaining tables and dumped the silver packages onto their surface.  
She removed her helmet revealing pale brown skin and long black hair done up in a bun that was pressed to the back of her head. Her eyebrows were long and slender and beneath them her eyes were a deep, dark brown. She was in her mid thirties with at least two decades of solid combat experience under her belt. And though Ravi was not perhaps beautiful, she was still very attractive. Or at least she would have been if it weren't for the spider web pattern of scars that started above her right brow and continued down to where her neck met her shoulder, courtesy of a marine's mistimed frag grenade.  
Connor in stark contrast to her had only one scar, a set of three faint claw lines that bisected his left eyebrow where a Grunt of all things had managed to scratch him during a heated bout of close quarters combat. He was aside from this however, quite pretty, with high cheekbones, thin eyebrows and sparkling green eyes, coupled with short yet messy blonde hair.  
Sanya however, had both of them outmatched when it came to scars. A massive man of Russian descent, he was fiercely handsome with a strong jaw covered in just a hint of black stubble and thick eyebrows that overshadowed a pair of deep black eyes. His scars covered not just his face but also his body, and with him being arguably the most resilient of the Spartans, he had a lot of them to show. Diagonally across his face ran a thin scar from an Elite's plasma sword, his right cheek contained a rectangular burn scar running up towards and ending at his ear. His left brow was marred by a scar, which ran parallel to the first and continued down to his jaw. And at the top of his right temple was a smaller version of Ravi's scar, which had been caused by a piece of shrapnel striking Sanya in the head some time ago.  
"Dinner is served." Ravi announced, her accent fading noticeably as it did when she wasn't stressed "Get it while it's hot."  
Connor and Sanya trudged over to the table and each Spartan took four MREs for themselves, three for eating and one for keeping. Connor tore into his first packet, tasting preserved meat and hard mash, all of it cold.  
"Ugh!" he exclaimed, never taking his eyes off of the barricaded entrance "This stuff's worse then the slop they used to serve in basic."  
"It not so bad," Sanya replied in the stereotypical accent that he seems to love so much, grinning and constantly keeping an eye out in case any Covenant came in through the rear "you should taste the crap in my home town. I don't remember much about the place, but I do know that the food there could kill a vulture's appetite."  
Connor and Ravi chuckled, and then went back to eating. After finishing their second MREs Ravi called their attention to her.  
"All right here's the plan," she began, as Connor and Sanya listened intently "the Covenant are all over this base like curry on a nan. So we've got two objectives; one, bust into the armoury and gather weapons and ammo."  
Connor couldn't have agreed more with that first one. Whilst the rest of the Spartan Twos had been sent off to defend strategic locations across Reach such as the generators for the Orbital Defense Platforms, Connor and his teammates had been re allocated by ONI brass to the top secret Tower Base for a 'vital' mission.  
"Two," Ravi continued "we head to the vehicle bay and procure land transport, then make our way over to New Alexandria and finish or mission."  
Their mission was in fact the recovery of the city's superintendent data to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. Apparently New Alexandria's superintendent had been used as a fail safe for some of ONI's more 'clandestine' projects, and with the Covenant sieging the city, that information was now in danger of falling into enemy hands.  
"That's a hell of drive Rav," Sanya said, keeping his voice low and using Ravi's nickname "New Alexandria's gotta be at least seven days away by land. And how do we get off this planet once we've finished the mission?"  
"Civilian evac is scheduled to start in five days," Ravi replied, finishing her third MRE " we get there in six, grab the data and hitch a ride out on one of the civilian evac birds."  
"Six days is cutting it close." Connor said, pushing the empty MRE's to one side "But I suppose air is out of the question."  
"Yeah, the Covenant own it," Sanya agreed "we stand a better chance of going unnoticed if we travel by land."  
"All right pack it up." Ravi ordered, standing up and slipping her fourth and final MRE onto one of the clips on her Mjolnir armour's belt "We leave in – GET TO COVER!"  
Ravi's accent thickened and she dashed forwards, upending the table and throwing Sanya, a total of four hundred and fifty five kilograms, clear across the room.  
Blue bolts of plasma slammed into the position where Sanya had been only a fraction of a second ago, melting the table's surface and throwing up sparks on impact. Connor and Ravi pulled on their helmets and scrambled to dodge the incoming fire, their shields flaring as they took hits.  
Sanya landed on the far side of the room, rolled, slipped his helmet on and dived behind the food counter at the end of the building where he was quickly joined by Connor and Ravi.  
Connor risked a peak over the counter and counted six Elites with plasma rifles firing at them. He ducked back behind the counter as blue bolts of death screamed towards him.  
"Shit!" he exclaimed "Looks like the Elites are back, I counted six, they look like spec ops."  
"Great," Sanya sighed "probably the same ones as before too. They're good, they got in here cloaked and we never even noticed."  
"I noticed!" Ravi interrupted "Now come on, there's a storage locker in the back, a big freezer with metal walls that we can use for cover."  
"It's a dead end in there though," Connor argued, moving towards the freezer "we going in for CQB?"  
"Yep," Ravi replied as they reached the safety of the freezer "we're going to pull them in close and then beat tem to death."  
"I like it," Sanya rumbled "easy to remember, even easier to do."  
The three Spartans readied themselves within the confines of the steel freezer, eagerly awaiting the moment when they would be able to level the playing field.


	3. Chapter 2

** Chapter 2  
**

**Date:** August 13th, 2552

 **Time:** 26:30 hours

 **Planet:** Reach

 **Location:** ONI Tower Base

 **Mission:** Eradicate human resistance

The night air hummed with the sound of plasma drives as Phantoms, Ghosts and Wraiths glided over and through the human settlement, transporting brave Sangheili warriors to and from battles and scanning the damaged human keep for surviving humans.

A Phantom, it's hull curved and gleaming like the chitin of some giant purple beetle, came gliding through the night, sailing smoothly over burnt, shattered buildings and coming to a stop in the settlement's central courtyard.

The drop ship's doors folded out and down, allowing its passengers to spill out into the courtyard. A dozen Unngoy piled out of the drop ship, lugging weapons, comms equipment and other ordinance with them, shortly followed by a tall, muscular Sangheili in ornate golden armour.

Voro 'Chonchiyo, the commander of the Covenant forces laying siege to the human keep known as 'TOWER BASE', stepped out into the cool night air and assessed the situation, knowing full well that it was one thing to sit up in orbit passing judgement and another thing entirely to actually be on the front lines and make those same decisions.

The courtyard was a hub of activity, with Unggoy rushing to and fro setting up plasma barriers, weapon caches and vehicle depots at appropriate locations. Voro, like most of his Sangheili brethren, placed little trust in the small, squat aliens and had had them removed from Dagger Company, the force of soldiers that he wielded for the Prophets, as a fighting force.

Instead he had relegated them to the more menial tasks of Dagger Company's upkeep, freeing up his Sangheili warriors and improving his company's fighting prowess. In addition to that Kig-Yar were strictly forbidden from Dagger One, as Voro saw the vulture like aliens as nothing more then trouble waiting to happen.

"Pirates every one of them." Voro muttered under his breath, thinking back to darker days when he had had to serve with Kig-Yar.

In addition to this, Dagger Company had three ships in orbit, two Corvettes and one Capital ship with a Ventral beam that Voro could use to 'glass' a city, as the humans called it. Honour however, dictated that Voro met his enemy head on and eliminated as many of them as possible in glorious combat before cleansing the infestation from orbit.

In order to accomplish that Voro had ordered twenty teams of five Sangheili each to assault the human keep under the cover of night with Spirits providing close air support. The ensuing battle had been short lived yet brutal and bloody.

Thirty seven noble Sangheili had fallen to the humans, four of whom had died after refusing medical assistance and two Spirits had been shot down during one of their strafing runs. Dagger Company had had the advantage of surprise, technology and air support and the humans had still managed to inflict some serious damage on the initial wave.

Voro grunted, he had to hand it to the pink scum, even after all of their shortcomings, they knew how to fight. Just not how to win.

Voro rolled his shoulders and stepped forwards, striding through the courtyard towards it's centre where a human monument had once stood upon a raised a platform. The Unggoy in the course of their preparations however, had blasted the monument to oblivion and levelled off the platform, creating a raised area from which Voro could project his authority and manage the battle.

Sitting upon the platform, which was now more of a dais then anything else, was a large, rectangular table, it's surface a giant pane of flat, dull glass, known as the Prophet's Eye. It was a recent technological breakthrough, on loan to Dagger Company to test its effectiveness in combat.

Voro pressed a large button on the side of the table and it's glass top flared into life, a bright blue light replacing it's previous dull sheen. A three dee model of the surrounding area sprang into life on the Prophet's Eye.

Small green boxes were scattered throughout the holographic image, showing the location of friendly forces and detailing their health status and any comms that they were using. Red boxes detailed the last known location of enemy forces, their numbers and their weapons, though that was only if the Sangheili engaging them could be bothered to report such details.

At the moment there were four red boxes on the map, two down towards the base's southern end, one near the base's centre courtyard, which Voro suspected was simply a confirmation error as he was currently using the main courtyard as a base of operations, and finally there was another red box towards the base's west, near what the humans called a 'mess hall'.

Voro narrowed his eyes as he saw that the closest unit to the mess hall was Dagger One, a squad comprised of five of the best warriors that Dagger Company had to offer. But something wasn't right with their read outs. Their pulses were higher then normal and they were expending ammo at a rate far faster then normal.

Voro reached out to find out more from the display but was distracted at the last minute.

"Brother!" called a Sangheili whom had just arrived on one of the Phantoms.

The new arrival was Voro's younger brother Rha.

Rha was big even by Sangheili standards, standing at well over two metres with broad shoulders and thick arms. He was clad in the slim white armour of the Sangheili special forces, a great honour for one so young.

"Much glory has been won this night!" Rha laughed, slapping Voro's shoulder "How goes the lonely post of command? Have you any other great victories up your sleeve for tonight?"

"A great victory is one in which we lose not a single warrior." Voro grunted, turning to face his brother as more Phantoms began touching down in the courtyard.

Many sections of the base had been cleared and these returning warriors were in the process of being relieved by fresh Sangheili from one of Voro's ships in orbit. He knew how dangerous fatigue was for an army, though none of his men would ever admit to being too tired to fight, and made sure to keep his fighting force as alert and as efficient as possible.

"A battle with no casualties is no battle at all." Rha countered, shooing away some Unggoy who came trotting up to offer him replacements for his weapons.

"I was not talking about battles." Voro replied, straightening up "So how went the fight? How were the enemy this time?"

"Pathetic as usual," Rha grumbled "I slew several who had decided to turn and run rather then stay and fight. Disgusting."

Voro wondered wether Rha would have stood and fought if an alien twice his size and three times his weight had been hellbent on killing him. He shook his head to clear it of such thoughts. Sympathising with the enemy was the quickest way to be viewed ass one yourself.

"And that is why they shall lose." He said, turning back to face the Prophet's Eye "It is only a matter of time now. Are you ready for another deployment?"

"Of course I am!" Rha said, sounding somewhat indignant at the question "What would you have of me?"

"Head west brother, towards the human armoury." Voro ordered, tapping the Prophet's Eye and placing a marker at Rha's objective "The surviving humans may head there for supplies. Intercept any you find and kill them."

Rha stood still, opening and closing his jaws as if he wanted to say something.

"My apologies brother," he began, choosing his words carefully "but would I not be better off hunting down the pink worms rather then waiting for them?"

"No, you would not." Voro replied, studying the battle through the Prophet's Eye.

"But-" Rha began.

Voro's patience snapped.

"Enough!" He roared, whirling to face Rha, who flinched backwards "Our enemy is more devious then you can imagine, and only patience and persistence will see them all dead! Your brother I may be but I am your commander as well. Do you understand me!"

Voro stepped up close to Rha, he had to crane his neck upwards to look him in the eye, and glared at him until Rha looked away.

"Yes ship master." Rha said.

Rha turned around without another word and stomped off to find his squad. Voro breathed out and relaxed, conflicts with his brother were always tense moments and they were growing more frequent, something Voro blamed on Nixan, Rha's second in command whom had been vying for Voro's position for years.

"You did good Voro." Grumbled a deep voice "But perhaps it would have been better to send him down to eradicate the survivors in the south."

A heavily scarred Sangheili who was, amazingly, even bigger then Rha, stepped up onto the dais to join Voro. He must have just arrived as Voro hadn't seen him when he was talking to Rha.

"Garrak," Voro greeted the veteran warrior with a handshake "I did not know that you were already here. And there are but a handful of survivors in the south, they would not pose so much as a threat to my brother."

"Very true." Garrak laughed "I would have been down sooner, but all these new warriors were vying for the honour. A shame that many of the will not be able to claim it now."

"They will be avenged." Voro promised, clenching his fist.

Garrak grunted and said nothing for a while.

"So come on then," he said, breaking the silence "why send your brother to guard an armoury? We both know that's a task that even an Unngoy could handle. Provided they weren't sucking narcotics when they did it."

Garrak spat his last sentence out. Like many Sangheili he thought very little of the Unggoy, often regarding them as nothing more then dogsbodies and cannon fodder.

"Which is exactly why they are not allowed to be warriors." Voro replied, motioning Garrak over to the Prophet's Eye "Besides, I have a feeling that Rha may find this to be more challenging then he thought."

Garrak pulled his jaws together in confusion and followed Voro's gesture. Dagger One's green display box was showing low ammunition levels and high heart rates. And across from their box was a red one with the number three in it.

Garrak frowned, Dagger One was the best squad that Dagger Company had to offer and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why they were taking so long to finish off three measly humans.

"I do not understand." He said, peering closer "What is holding them up?"

"I do not know, but-" Voro broke off as Dagger One's display blinked.

Voro enlarged the box, bringing up a more detailed view of the squad. Voro and Garrak both gasped as they saw that the vital signs for Jaja' Mantakrae, one of Dagger One's members, had flatlined.

"How?" Voro muttered, shocked by the fact that one of the strongest men he had ever known was now dead.

Then the unthinkable happened, another squad member flatlined, and then another and another one after that and before Voro knew what was happening Dagger One was gone. Dead on the floor of some human building.

A red rage threatened to overtake Voro but he managed to push it to the back of his head. There would be time for grieving later. But first he would have revenge.

"How?" Garrak asked, of no one in particular "How were they bested?!"

"I do not know," Voro said, dismissing Dagger One's box which had turned black to reflect their status "but if they are survivors then they're first objective will be..."

He trailed off as a strange, ice cold sensation rippled through his body. It was fear. And not the kind of fear he was used to, this was fear for another person, fear for his younger brother Rha. Because if the humans had slain Dagger One, then they're next port of call would almost certainly be the Armoury.

"Rha?!" Voro yelled, hailing his brother on the comms "Rha come in!"

"I have you brother." Came the response, clear over the radio due to Dagger Company's dominance of the area "What is it?"

"You've for trouble headed your way," Voro said, relieved to hear his brother alive and well "big trouble. Get to the armoury, fortify it and await for reinforcements. Garrak and I are on our way."

"At once brother!" Voro replied, recognising the shift in Voro's tone and realising that his mission had just become a lot more important.

"Good!" Garrak rumbled rolling his mountainous shoulders "When I get my hands on those deceitful heretics I'm going to rip them limb from limb and then start punishing them!"

Voro simply grunted in reply swiping a Plasma Repeater from an Unggoy and turning his armour's shields on.

"Suyok!" He said, calling over a slim Sangheili who wore the purple armour of an Ultra "You have command until I return, coordinate our southern forces and provide logistics to myself and my warriors."

"It will be done my lord." Suyok replied, assuming Voro's position at the Prophet's Eye.

Suyok was the best choice for leading Dagger Company after Garrak and Rha, and as such Voro felt confident leaving command to him for the time being.

Voro selected a dozen of the newly arrived Sangheili and led them away from the courtyard, towards the armoury, and as they trudged through the deserted, crumbling base that icy tingle of fear began to creep up his spine once more.

_READING TIPS:_

_\- Sangheili are Elites._

_\- Unggoy are Grunts._

_\- Kig-Yar are Jackals._

_\- Thank you for reading, if you could take thirty seconds to just drop me a review (whether you hated it or loved it) that would be much appreciated._


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Date:** August 13th, 2552  
 **Time:** 26:30 hours  
 **Planet:** Reach  
 **Location:** ONI Tower Base  
 **Mission:** Regroup

" _Hey there! How's my favourite little sister?"_ Beamed Daniel Crasner, a young man in his twenties " _I can't believe it, only nineteen and you're already out there defending humanity from the innies, you'll be an officer before long and before I know what's happening I'll probably be taking orders from you to boot haha!"_

Lauren Crasner, Daniel's nineteen year old sister, paused his recorded message before he got to the next sentence. She could never bare to listen to it, and even now in what was most certainly her most desperate hour she still couldn't bring herself to watch it.

She thought of Daniel, her protective brother who was always there for her, yet was now millions of miles away on Earth, captaining a Frigate, and a single tear slid down her face. She brushed it away angrily and straightened up.

" _I'm a marine for god's sake!"_ She thought, scooping up her rifle and checking the safety.

But what good was a marine against alien killing machines? Two metre tall monsters with weaponry so advanced that it gave even the best egg heads headaches just thinking about it.

She shook her head again, clearing it of any depressing thoughts and strode off through the rubble of her temporary sanctuary, a plasma blasted building overlooking a courtyard, to find her CO.

Gregory Grant, the highest ranking survivor of TOWER base, was leaning over a table with a paper map spread out in front of him. Four other marines were crowded around the table as well, drawing things on the map and talking quietly.

"Ah Lauren is it?" Grant asked, when he saw Lauren approaching "Has something happened?"

"No sir," she replied, glancing at the map " I just wanted to know what the plan was."

"Well at the moment I can't tell you that because it isn't yet complete." Grant replied, as the other marines murmured anxiously among themselves.

Lauren nodded, she knew exactly what that meant. He didn't have a plan and he wasn't going to come up with anything great in the next five minutes. A pity because five minutes was probably all they had left.

"Sir." Lauren said, turning around and striding off.

She wasn't a fool, they would need a miracle if they were going to survive the night and she was pretty sure that they were in very short supply on Reach.

Entertainment was hard to come by in the ruins of a shattered military base, and after cleaning her rifle and checking her ammo, Lauren found that she was at a loss, and that her mind kept coming back to one thing. Death.

She didn't want to die, hell she was pretty sure that most people didn't want to die. But every time she pushed the thought out of her head, it would sneak back in, whispering scenes of bloody torture to her.

"Dammit that is NOT going to be me." She said, replacing her fear with anger.

" _But what if it is?_ " She thought, and tears welled in her eyes as she thought of what might happen to her.

She shook her head and scooped her helmet up, jamming it onto her head and taking a few deep breaths to steady her. The clock on her heads up display read 00:00. She pressed the record button on the side of her helmet.

"Just in case." She said, to both herself and to the one who may one day watch her recording "Just in case I don't make it I..."

She took a few deep breaths to steady herself as something sad yet angry, with an impossible depth to it, threatened to rise up and overwhelm her.

"I wanted to leave a message for you... Dad." Her voice cracked as old memories, none of them pleasant, began to resurface "I just wanted to say... Oh screw it."

She hit the pause button, as anger and sadness warred for control and brought her crashing down in tears. After a few moments she pushed both of them back down and locked them away behind her soldiers' discipline.

A shadow fell over her and she looked up to see another marine looking down on her. His face was a grim mask and his eyes were resigned.

"You may want to pick up that weapon of yours soldier." He said, looking up into the distance "I have a feeling you may be needing it."

Lauren's heart sped accelerated into overtime and she scrambled to her feet, grabbing her rifle up as she went.

She peered off across the broken, melted courtyard that lay to the north of the building but failed to see anything. But then she heard them.

The hum of plasma fueled vehicles, probably Wraiths, and the loud, ugly _whort whort whort_ of the Elites, drifted across the courtyard and rolled over the marine's last place of refuge.

Lauren cocked her weapon, flicked the safety off and found herself some cover. Then she took a deep breath, leveled her rifle at a point across the courtyard and listened to the Covenant as they drew closer and closer. To her it didn't sound like an approaching army, or even an enemy force. It just sounded like The End.

**Author's Note: Hey there guys, sorry about the wait and the length of the chapter, I promise the next one will be shorter and longer respectively. If you guys could take just a few seconds to drop me a review that would be much appreciated. Thanks for reading and have a great day!**


	5. Chapter 4

** Chapter 4 **

**Date:** 13th of August 2552  
 **Time:** 26:30  
 **Planet:** Reach  
 **Location:** Tower Base, Mess Hall  
 **Mission:** Secure weapons and transport

The final Spec Ops Elite died gurgling as Sanya drew his combat knife, which was more akin to a machete by normal standards, across its neck. Purple blood spilled over the Spartan's chest as he nearly decapitated the alien, splattering onto the ground where it began to pool along with the blood from the other members of the Elite's fallen squad.

The fight had been over remarkably quickly, Ravi had torn the door from the freezer with Connor's help and then proceeded to use it as a shield whilst she closed the gap between her and the Elites.

Once among the alien warriors she had used the giant piece of now scorched metal to disrupt the squad, beating and battering the aliens to the floor, and giving Connor and Sanya the opportunity to join the fight without fear of plasma bolts and subsequent death.

After that it had been relatively easy to finish off the stunned and surprised squad, liberating them of both their weapons and their lives at the same time.

"Radio silence from now on," Ravi ordered, as she inspected her newly acquired, and nearly depleted, plasma rifle "hand signals only unless its urgent."

Sanya and Connor both signalled their acknowledgement, taking up positions by the front of the mess hall and scanning the courtyard beyond with their weapons.

"Our first objective is the armoury, then the vehicle depot attached to it." Ravi stated, summarising their earlier conversation "Connor, lead the way and only engage if it is absolutely necessary."

Connor nodded and disappeared out into the courtyard, moving quickly yet smoothly, checking every angle and approach with his plasma rifle as he went. He stuck to the shadows and any pieces of cover he could find, relying on darkness and wreckage to shield him from sight and potential sniper fire.

Ravi and Sanya followed behind him, double and triple checking all of the same approaches as they went, and in theory any new ones that the Spartan before them may have missed, travelling in a staggered formation with a ten or so meter gap between each of them.

They moved through the shattered base like phantoms, silent and surreal in the dim light of the moon and the glare of plasma fuelled fires. They passed through courtyards and halls and whole buildings that were choked with bodies, blood and death, never pausing to check for vitals or signs of life.

At one point the sound of gunfire, human gunfire, rattled out from some distant part of the base, and Connor paused to hold his hand out in a fist with his thumb crooked above it, the Spartan hand signal for a question mark.

Ravi merely shook her head in response and made a series of hand signals to indicate that they should keep moving.

Three times along their way they had to scramble for deep patches of shadow and large balustrades to hide their presence from patrols which, strangely, were always composed entirely of Elites. Never once did they see a Grunt or a Jackal, and though they all knew of the Elite's disdain for the lower races in the Covenant Hierarchy, they had never known that to prevent the aliens from fighting together on the battlefield.

They eventually reached the armoury, a building with large metal, reinforced doors that was attached to a larger, blockier building, with larger, blockier doors: the motor pool.

There was a row of once green decorative flora running parallel to the building and Connor came to a stop next to it, hunkering down near a blackened tree and it's melted concrete casing a dozen meters from the Armoury's doors. Ravi and Sanya took up similar positions, hiding themselves in shadow and sheltering themselves as best they could with the showy, yet flimsy and thin, trunks of trees and bushes.

Sanya was watching their flanks whilst Connor and Ravi surveyed the two damaged buildings, taking special note of the motor pool's twisted and disfigured roller doors that would make exit via any vehicle other then a Scorpion Tank impossible.

It was eerily quiet, with nothing but the wind to fill the silence other then the occasional burst of far off, sporadic gunfire. After a moment of careful contemplation, Ravi spoke.

"Move in, Connor's on transport, I'll get the weapons, Sanya watch our backs." She ordered, her team mates moving to obey before she'd even finished speaking.

They mounted the steps to the armoury and passed through its broken doors, leaving the corpse that was slumped against them undisturbed, and split into three different directions.

Connor headed left, through a side door and into the motor pool, whilst Ravi went straight to one of the rows of mostly empty weapons shelves. Sanya took up position by the doors, sticking to the shadows once again and keeping a careful eye on the outer approach.

Ravi made it to the shelves and began to rifle through them, pulling assault rifles, pistols and even one shotgun that had somehow been overlooked, from them. She threw the shotgun and an assault rifle to Sanya, who deftly snatched them out of the air before holstering the shotgun on his back's magnetic mount and loading the rifle with one of the magazines that Ravi was now handing out.

"We've got no shells for the shotgun," Ravi informed him, holstering the assault rifle that was to be Connor's before loading her own "and no time to search for them. Keep our backs covered."

Sanya nodded and the two of them retreated further into the armoury, heading for the motor pool to meet up with Connor, and once inside Sanya again positioned himself so that he could observe the doors through which they had entered.

"What have you got for us Twenty-Seven?" Ravi asked, unhitching the rifle from her back and tossing to it to Connor "I hope it isn't that."

She gestured at the massive Scorpion class battle tank that Connor sat upon, leaning into the cockpit so that he could fiddle with its controls. Fifty tonnes of armour and a pair of treads would never be able to outrun a Covenant invasion force.

"No ma'am," Connor replied, grinning under his helmet "I just need to rig it's firing mechanism so that we can remote fire it."

He finished by hauling loose a length of wire from the cockpit and gesturing at the half wrecked roller doors set into the buildings front.

"We'll never make it through that in a warthog," he continued, as a light began to flash in Ravi's HUD "but now we can load up, blow it from a distance and be on our way before the Covenant has a chance to come ca-"

"Movement at the entrance." Sanya cut in, speaking over the squad's TeamSpeak radio "Possible cloaked Elites."

"Roger that," Ravi said, already moving for cover "pull back to a defensible position, keep something solid at your back and head for the Warthog behind the Scorpion."

Green status lights winked on her HUD, informing her that both Connor and Sanya had heard and acknowledged her.

Connor picked up and loaded his new rifle in one smooth movement and slid off of the Scorpion, landing silently before disappearing into the shadows. Sanya was barely visible in the low, half-light through which he slunk and Ravi had already disappeared around the side of the tank.

For a while the only sound audible was the ominous creaking of machinery and the sound of distant scattered gunfire, the air hung still and was full of a fragile silence. A silence that was shattered moments later.

Sanya made a silent dash from one piece of cover to the next, crossing a stray beam of moonlight as he went. But the moment the light touched upon him was the exact opportunity that his enemy had been waiting for. A clear shot.

_Thunkthunkthunkthunk!_

The pulsing sound of a plasma rifle being fired filled the room, and blue streaks of death sped across the dark space, slamming into vehicles and filling the air with the acrid smell of burnt metal.

Two rounds struck Sanya, though the rest swung wide and missed him, splattering harmlessly against the chassis of a nearby Warthog whose wheels were still locked down by heavy-duty floor clamps.

Sanya's shields flared and held, dropping to fifty percent, and he hurled himself forwards, diving behind a Warthog and rolling to his feet in one fluid motion. He raised his head and weapon over the bonnet and was treated to the strangely surreal sight of an Elite in the midst of de-cloaking in the middle of a pool of white moonlight.

" _That would make a great painting._ " He thought to himself, before pulling the trigger and filling the alien's torso with red-hot lead.

"Target down." He spoke into his radio, as the Elite squirmed in a pool of purple blood "Sweeping and clearing."

"Roger that." Ravi's response came "You take the lower levels, I'll take the higher ones. Connor's readying our transport, watch his back."

"Got it." Sanya replied, hearing a soft scoff from Connor.

He grinned under his helmet as he and Connor flashed their green status lights, and then the entire room erupted in a sea of blue fire.

* * *

 


End file.
